[lingkungan] Biosafety Negotiations - UNEP press release

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-----Original Message-----
From: C.C. Looi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: SEABD-Net <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, January 14, 2000 19:37
Subject: [seabd-net] Biosafety Negotiations - UNEP press release


>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Elfrieda Pschorn-Strauss [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>Sent: 10 January 2000 15:40
>To: Biowatch Listserver
>Subject: BIOWATCH: Biosafety Negotiations - UNEP press release
>
>
>GOVERNMENTS MEET TO CONCLUDE BIOSAFETY TREATY
>
>January 4, 2000
>United Nations Environment Programme
>
>MONTREAL/NAIROBI --   The world s governments are resuming talks here from
>24 - 28 January in an effort to finalize and adopt a legally-binding
>agreement on reducing any potential risks resulting from the transboundary
>movement of living modified organisms (LMOs). Ministers are expected to
>participate during the final two days.
>
>"The ability of modern biotechnology to contribute to human well-being in
>the 21st century will be boosted dramatically if the international
>community takes action now to create credible and effective safeguards for
>the environment," said Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United
>Nations Environment Programme, which administers the secretariat of the
>Convention on Biological Diversity, under which the talks are talking
>place.
>
>"Reducing unnecessary and potentially catastrophic risks is in the best
>interest of everyone - developed and developing countries, consumers and
>industry, and all those who care deeply about our natural environment." The
>resumed talks follow a suspension of the First Session of the Extraordinary
>Conference of the Parties of the Convention in February 1999
>in Cartagena, Colombia, when officials were unable to finalize the text of
>a Biosafety Protocol in the time available due to a number of outstanding
>differences.  Since then, Colombian Environment Minister Juan Mayr
>Maldonado, in his capacity as President of the Extraordinary Session, has
>held two rounds of open-ended informal consultations, the first in Montreal
>in July, the second in Vienna in September. At these meetings,
>representatives of all the negotiating groups that emerged from the
>Cartagena meeting expressed their commitment to concluding a Biosafety
>Protocol and confirmed that the political will to achieve this does exist.
>The negotiating groups are the Miami Group (Argentina, Australia, Canada,
>Chile, Uruguay, and the US), the European Union, the Central and Eastern
>European Countries, the Compromise Group, and the Like-Minded Group of
>Countries (which includes most of the developing countries).
>
>The talks have stalled over a number of issues. In particular, governments
>have disagreed over the proposed scope of the treaty�s regulatory powers.
>Some have wanted to restrict the scope of the Protocol to LMOs intended for
>introduction into the environment, such as seeds. Others have argued for a
>broader scope that would include LMOs that are agricultural commodities or
>that are used for food, feed, or processing. At the Vienna informal
>consultations there was a general agreement that the scope should be broad.
>
>Negotiators also advanced on a conceptual framework for designing the
>practical procedures that would apply to these commodities.
>Another contentious issue is liability: if LMOs enter the environment and
>cause damage, who pays? Also unresolved is how to minimize the potential
>socio-economic impacts, such as the competitive decline of traditional
>crops faced with LMO imports. Still another unresolved question relates to
>the Protocol s relationship to other international agreements, particularly
>those under the World Trade Organization.
>
>LMOs include various food crops that have been genetically modified for
>greater productivity or nutritional value, or for resistance to pests or
>diseases. Common examples include tomatoes, grains, cassava, corn, and
>soybeans. Seeds for growing crops are particularly important because they
>are used intentionally to propagate or reproduce LMOs in the environment.
>Together, these agricultural LMOs form the basis of a multi-billion-dollar
>global industry. Pharmaceuticals derived using LMOs form the basis of an
>even larger industry.
>
>The biosafety talks reflect growing public concerns about the potential
>risks of biotechnology. Many countries with modern biotechnology industries
>do have domestic legislation. However, there are no binding international
>agreements covering LMOs that cross national borders because of trade or
>accidental releases.
>
>Another concern is that many developing countries lack the technical,
>financial, institutional, and human resources to address biosafety. They
>need greater capacity for assessing and managing risks, establishing
>adequate information systems, and developing expert human resources in
>biotechnology.
>www.biodiv.org and www.unep.ch/conventions/
>
>UNEP News Release 2000/1
>PRESS BACKGROUNDER
>
>Biotechnology and the Biosafety Protocol
>
>>From mapping the human genome to cloning sheep, biologists have been at
the
>forefront of scientific progress over the past two decades. While advances
>in biotechnology promise extraordinary improvements in human well-being,
>they can also raise serious ethical, environmental, and health concerns.
>Modern biotechnology has great potential for human well-being if developed
>and used with adequate safety measures for the environment and human
health.
>
>The relatively new concept of �biosafety� describes efforts to ensure that
>humanity receives the benefits   but avoids the risks   resulting from
>modern biotechnology. The first intergovernmental talks on a legally
>binding biosafety agreement are taking place under the Convention on
>Biological Diversity.
>
>What is biotechnology? For millennia, humans have artificially altered the
>genetic makeup of plants and animals through breeding selection and
>cross-fertilization. Since the early 1970s, however, modern biotechnology
>has enabled scientists to transfer genetic material (DNA   the biochemical
>instructions governing the development of cells and organisms) through
>biochemical means and to radically alter the intricate genetic structure of
>individual living cells. They can now introduce a great diversity of genes
>into plants, animals, and micro-organisms almost instantly. For the first
>time, humanity has the power to transfer genes from one type of organism to
>another  for example, to insert genes from a bacterium into a tomato to
>create a transgenic plant. Modern biotechnology includes recombinant DNA
>(rDNA) techniques (also called genetic engineering) as well as the use of
>monoclonal antibodies and new cell- and tissue-culture methods.
>
>What are Living Modified Organisms (LMOs)? LMOs include a variety of food
>cropsthat have been genetically modified for greater productivity or for
>resistance to pests or diseases. Common examples include tomatoes, grains,
>cassava (a starchy root grown in Sub-Saharan Africa and other tropical
>areas), corn, and soybeans. Seeds for growing new crops are particularly
>important because they are used intentionally to propagate LMOs.
>
>What are LMO products? LMOs form the basis of a range of products and
>agricultural commodities. Citing the precautionary principle, some experts
>cite the risk that pieces of DNA remaining in these non-living products
>could possibly replicate under certain conditions; others consider this to
>be extremely unlikely. Processed products containing dead modified
>organisms or non- living LMO components include certain vaccines; drugs;
>food additives; and many processed, canned, and preserved foods. Depending
>on the precise definition, they can also include corn and soybean
>derivatives used in many foods and nonfoods, cornstarch used for cardboard
>and adhesives, fuel ethanol for gasoline, vitamins, vaccines and
>pharmaceuticals, and yeast-based foods such as beer and bread.
>
>What are the potential benefits of biotechnology? Genetic engineering
>promises remarkable advances in medicine, agriculture, and other fields. It
>can alter the growth characteristics of micro-organisms, insects, fish, and
>animals or make them produce new substances. It can improve the resistance
>of plants to pests and environmental pressures and increase their
>commercial value. It can create food crops with increased yields, raising
>the protein generated from limited land and resources. It can also make
>plants more resistant to disease and insects. Other benefits include new
>medical treatments and vaccines, new industrial products, and improved
>fibres and fuels.
>
>What are the potential risks? Biotechnology is a very new field, and much
>about the interaction of LMOs with various ecosystems is not yet known. The
>introduction of genetically modified organisms should not proceed faster
>than advances in scientific understanding. Some of the concerns about the
>new technologies include unintended changes in the competitiveness,
>virulence, or other characteristics of the target species; the possibility
>of adverse impacts on non-target species (such as beneficial insects) and
>ecosystems; the potential for weediness in genetically modified crops (a
>plant becomes too resistant and invasive, perhaps by transferring its genes
>to wild relatives); and the stability of inserted genes (the possibilities
>that a gene will lose its effectiveness or will be re-transferred to
>another host). A specific example that has recently been cited involves the
>insertion of protease inhibitor genes (PIs) into plants; these small
>proteins interfere with enzymes in the intestinal tracts of insects and can
>disrupt development and destroy larvae in both pests and beneficial
>insects. Similarly, Bt-toxins engineered into a wide range of transgenic
>plants may
>build up in the soil and harm pollinators and other beneficial insects.
>What is biosafety? Biosafety is a new term used to describe efforts to
>reduce and eliminate the potential risks resulting from biotechnology and
>its products. It is based on the precautionary principle, which states that
>the lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as an excuse to
>postpone action when there is a threat of serious or irreversible damage.
>While developed countries that are at the center of the global
>biotechnology industry have established domestic biosafety regimes, many
>developing countries are only now starting to establish their own national
>systems.
>
>Why is biotechnology also a trade issue? The commercialization of
>biotechnology has spawned multi-billion-dollar industries for foodstuffs
>and pharmaceuticals that continue to grow at a dramatic pace. Under World
>Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, the regulation of trade must be based
>on �sound scientific knowledge�. Under environmental regimes, the agreed
>standard of proof is the precautionary principle. The WTO also does not
>accept socio-economic concerns, such as the risk that exports of
>genetically engineered crops may replace traditional ones and undermine
>local cultures and traditions in importing countries. The subsidiary
>agreements of the WTO, including the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement
>(SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT), and the Agreement on
>Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs), also contain specific
>provisions that apply to the biosafety issue.
>
>Why is an international Biosafety agreement needed? The objectives of the
>1992 Convention on Biological Diversity are "the conservation of biological
>diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable
>sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic
>resources." The biosafety talks reflect growing public concern about the
>potential risks posed by living modified organisms. A particular concern is
>that many developing countries lack the technical, financial, and
>institutional means to address biosafety. They need greater capacity for
>assessing and managing risks, establishing adequate information systems,
>and developing expert human resources in biotechnology. While many
>countries with modern biotechnology industries do have domestic
>legislation, there are no binding international agreements covering LMOs
>that cross national borders because of trade or accidental releases. An
>international regime is needed now while the biotechnology industry is
>still young and major errors have not yet been committed.
>
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